As the Atlantic 10 Varsity 8 final was getting lined up 2000 meters away, fans, alums, and parents passed through the results tent to try to figure out who was ahead in the points race for the Atlantic 10 NCAA automatic qualifier at the A10 Championships on the Cooper River on Saturday.
The screen in the tent showed the finish orders and times with no info about the points tally, but about 20 feet away, URI assistant coach (and former four-time A10 champ for URI) Lotte Sherman was tracking the points, and an Internet reporter nearby sent all the parents to her outpost. The story was clear; with URI earning 24 points in the 2V and V4, GW 23, and UMass 22, barring a truly surprising result whichever V8 from George Washington, Rhode Island, or UMass won the Varsity eight would win the team championship and the trip to NCAAs.
After the Rhode Island varsity stormed the finish a little over 3/4 length ahead of UMass, followed by GW about the same amount back again, URI head coach Shelagh Donohoe admitted she preferred it that way, despite the strain of suspense on the coach.
"The 20 minute centers were killing me," she laughed, "but for it to come down to the varsity eight like that where any three programs can win is what makes our sport exciting. Yeah, it’s nerve wracking, and, but I think that’s a way a championship should be, and shows our conference is getting better and getting faster. Hopefully, we can go to NCAAs and show that."
"UMass is always ready for this race, and GW has shown great speed, so I knew we had to have a pretty perfect race, and we had it all together today," she said. "Today they had a great start and really chipped away at it through the 1000, and put together a good finish. I am really happy with how they raced and executed."
Donohoe put the win down to leadership within the team, including a senior contingent that kept the team and V on track.
"They have trained really hard and very consistently throughout the whole year, so it doesn't really surprise me that we were able to do what we did today," she said. "They're confident, and we have great senior leadership. The seniors in the boat got everybody in line. I don't think you could do what we did today without the leadership that we had."
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